Williams Ends Need-Blind International Admissions

Submitted by Doug Lederman on February 17, 2010 - 3:00am

Williams College, which last month announced an end to its "no loans" policy[1] for undergraduates in need of financial aid, on Tuesday moved to end the policy of being need-blind in admitting international students. Admitting international students without regard to need is unusual, even among the small group of private colleges like Williams that have that practice for undergraduates from the United States. In the last decade, having moved to the policy for international students as well, Williams saw its international financial aid costs increase by more than 200 percent, according to a letter sent to the campus (a copy of which appears at EphBlog[2]). As a result, the college will establish a set limit on financial aid for international students. Williams officials believe that they will still admit more international students in need of financial aid than the college did before it shifted to being need blind for those students.